Bank still won't pay charity

A BANK is still refusing to refund £7,550 that fraudsters stole from a Henley charity despite having returned £15,000 to another account that was targeted.

The criminals accessed a Lloyds business account belonging to a trustee of the Henley HandyBus, a community transport service for the elderly and disabled.

They transferred £15,000 into the HandyBus account, then stole a total of £22,550 from there.

The charity’s trustees reported the crime to the police and requested a refund from Lloyds but the bank refused, saying customers were responsible for protecting their accounts and the victim must have given the scammers his log-in details, which he denies.

The bank has returned the £15,000 to man’s business account without explanation.

The HandyBus wrote to Lloyds asking if it would also get its money back but the bank replied no.

Lloyds said it had taken the decision to reimburse the £15,000 without an admission of liability, adding: “We stand by our decision to decline a refund for the funds that exited the [HandyBus] account for £7,550 as the bank cannot be held accountable.”